祖安清心（丹戎巴葛集选区议员）女士询问总理和财政部长：考虑到小学更广泛地采用在家学习的做法，总理公署是否会考虑将育儿假规定的年龄上限提高到孩子12岁。

英兰妮（总理公署部长，代表总理）女士：如今，每一位在职父母在其最小的新加坡子女未满7岁时，每年可享有6天带薪育儿假。此外，当最年幼的子女年龄在7岁至12岁之间时，每位在职父母每年还可享受2天带薪延长育儿假。

这些育儿假规定是在年假权利之外的，之所以这样设计，是因为年龄较大的孩子通常比年龄较小的孩子更加独立。因此，子女年龄较小的父母可获得更多的育儿假。目前还没有计划提高育儿假的年龄上限。

小学无须定期进行居家学习 (HBL)。学校可因应需要，以及为紧急情况做好准备，每年有几天内开展居家学习，以防在紧急情况下需要转向居家学习。学校会提前通知家长，以便他们在需要时做出其他托管安排。学生托管中心也会照常开放。

在考虑进一步改善休假规定时，包括增加有大孩子的父母的育儿假，我们需要在支持父母的需求和对雇主人力和运营要求的影响之间取得平衡。

因此，除了法定的休假规定外，我们还鼓励雇主在工作场所推行其他可持续的家庭友善措施，例如灵活工作制 (FWA)。《劳资政三方灵活工作安排要求指导原则》（Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests）将于2024 年12月1日生效。该强制性指导原则将使雇主和雇员能够进行公开讨论，并制定出符合双方需求和限制的安排。我们鼓励在职父母需要利用这些措施来照顾孩子时，得到主管和同事给予支持。

 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether the Ministry will consider raising the age ceiling for childcare leave provisions until the child is 12 years of age, considering the wider adoption of home-based learning in primary schools.

Ms Indranee Rajah (for the Prime Minister): Today, each working parent is entitled to six days of paid childcare leave per year, when their youngest Singaporean child is below seven years old. In addition, each working parent will be entitled to two days of paid Extended Childcare Leave per year when the youngest child is aged between seven and 12.

These childcare leave provisions are on top of annual leave entitlements and are designed as such because older children are generally more independent compared to younger children. Hence, parents with younger children are granted more childcare leave provisions. There are no plans at present to raise the age ceiling for childcare leave. 

Primary schools are not required to conduct Home-Based Learning (HBL) on a regular basis. They may conduct HBL on a few days each year based on the schools’ needs and as part of emergency preparedness in case they need to shift to HBL in contingency situations. Schools will inform parents in advance so they can make alternative care arrangements if needed. Student care centres also remain open as per other school days.  

In considering any further enhancement to leave provisions, including increasing childcare leave for parents with older children, we will need to strike a balance between supporting the needs of parents and the impact on employers’ manpower and operational requirements. 

Therefore, beyond legislated leave provisions, we encourage employers to put in place other sustainable family-friendly workplace practices, such as flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests will take effect from 1 December 2024. The mandatory Guidelines will enable employers and employees to have open discussions and work out arrangements that can meet both parties’ needs and constraints. We encourage supervisors and colleagues to be supportive when working parents need to tap on these measures to care for their children.